


I'm Just A Little Unwell

by erisgregory



Category: Roswell New Mexico (TV 2019)
Genre: Cracky, M/M, Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder - PTSD, Slightly - Freeform, boys being dumb
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-16
Updated: 2019-05-16
Packaged: 2020-03-06 04:17:48
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,115
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18843478
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/erisgregory/pseuds/erisgregory
Summary: from a tumblr prompt: Maybe for a split second Alex thinks Michael is going to hurt him when he very briefly raises his hand at just the right angle?





	I'm Just A Little Unwell

It’s stupid to argue over a movie. Alex knows this. He’s sure Michael most know it too somewhere deep inside. Yet here they are, arguing over a movie. And it’s so stupid.

It was supposed to be an easy night. They were going out, their first real date since everything had gone down. This was them making it official so to speak. Dinner and a movie and in a small town like Roswell there was really only one choice for a fancy dinner, not that either of them were fancy but dammit Alex was trying to do this the right way. That meant dinner at Cattle Baron on Main. They agreed on that easily enough and they agreed to go to the Galaxy 8 theater. But no matter what they couldn’t settle on a movie.

Alex very wisely suggested Avengers Endgame because he’d managed to go this long without seeing any spoilers and Michael wanted to see Detective Pikachu of all things. It was insane. Apparently he’d been a fan of Pokemon since he was a kid and now he wanted to relive all the Pikachu glory. 

Okay so Alex knew he could give in to this, but he really wanted to see Endgame. Like he’d saved his money and everything. He was so sure that’s what they would agree on. He felt totally blindsided by Michael’s stubborn refusal. 

His argument? The last Avengers movie had been sad and Michael couldn’t imagine how this one would have a good ending. He wanted to see something happy on their first date. Which to be fair made a little bit of sense, but did that mean they had to see a kid’s movie? Alex had like Pokemon too, but he didn’t feel the need to see Detective Pikachu on the big screen. He could stream it any time, but Endgame was definitely the type of thing you want to see in theaters.

Which is what he planned to say next. 

“I really want to see endgame on the big screen. We can see Detective Pikachu later, it’s not like I’m saying I’ll never watch it with you. Besides there aren’t any spoilers for it, whereas Endgame is like a ticking time bomb for me. At any point in time someone could ruin it for me!” Alex exclaimed. He was losing his cool and he hated it.

Clearly Michael was too because the little trailer had begun to shake ever so slightly and Alex knew it wasn’t an earthquake. He couldn’t believe they were really doing this.

“I really want to see Detective Pikachu on the big screen!” Michael a=threw his own words back at him. They were at an impasse.

“You don’t have to be so stubborn about it, I thought you picked the restaurant so I could pick the movie!” Alex’s voice was getting louder, but he was angry, stupid reasons be damned. Michael was acting like a child.

“You could try to compromise with me, but no, you’re the one being stubborn about it!” Michael yelled. The cabinets shivered behind him. He was losing control. Which made Alex even angrier.

“Look at you, you’re completely out of control all over a stupid movie! I’m not the one about to tear up your Airstream because I’m mad!” Alex yelled back.

Michael was standing right up against him now, they were toe to toe and Michael raised his hand and without even thinking Alex flinched. Nothing happened though. Even the trailer stopped moving. There was a beat of silence and then Michael stepped back. As far back as he could in the cramped little space.

“You’re scared of me? Did you think I was going to hit you?” He asked, his voice shaking.

“No, I mean…” Alex ran his hand over his face. All of his anger was just gone. Had he thought Michael would hit him? Maybe for just the tiniest moment. 

“You did. You flinched. You thought I was going to hurt you. Alex.” Michael’s voice turned to a plea. “I would never. You have to know. I would never hurt you. I was just reaching for you, that’s all. I thought I might kiss you and shut you up for a minute.” He was holding up both hands as if to show they weren’t weapons.

“I’m sorry.” Alex said, deflating.

“Don’t be sorry, jesus.” Michael swallowed, his face full of concern.

”I don’t know what to say. I know you would never hurt me, but just for a second, I guess I just reacted. I didn’t think.” Alex admits.

Michael slowly steps forward. “I’m going to come over there, is that okay?”

Alex nods, so Michael steps closer, all the while still holding up his hands. Alex would feel ridiculous for his reaction except the way Michael is acting now really is making him feel safer. It’s awful.

“Alex Manes,” he begins, “I swear to you I will never raise my hand to you. Never. There is nothing you could say or do that would make me want to hurt you.”

Alex nods, he knows this, deep down he knows it, it’s just he’s been conditioned all his life to avoid a raised hand. Even the air force couldn’t really train him out of it. Not fully. Even though he knew now how to take care of himself in a fight. It was planted in his bones. 

Michael gently lays his hands on both of Alex’s arms. “Let’s go see Endgame.” He offers.

“What if we just skip the movie tonight? Is that okay?” Alex asks.

“Sure, it’s not like we could talk during the movie nyway and I think we need to talk some more.” Michael tells him.

Alex agrees. Dinner is a calm affair. They talk about Alex’s deployment, well the parts he can talk about, and they talk about what Michael’s been doing to stay afloat while he’s been gone. They talk about learning to talk instead of yell and of compromises. They agree to go see both movies while they are still in the theater and they decide on Thai takeout for their next date. It’s nice. It’s not too heavy until Michael asks Alex if he ever considered therapy. Alex has considered it, has even gone a few times before getting back to Roswell.

He decides over dessert that he’ll start looking for a PTSD therapist and get serious about getting help and Michael promises to work on keeping his powers under tight control when Alex is around so he never has to feel afraid when and if they do argue.

All in all it’s a pretty great first date and Alex is looking forward to many more.


End file.
